Effect of Experimental Conditions on Preferred Orientation of Crystal Planes in Zn Nanowires

Since the inception, much effort has been drawn on the fabrication of nanowires of different diameter. It's not only the different aspect ratio that determines the application of nanowires but the orientation of crystal planes in nanowires as well. Deposition of atoms of a substance into the pores of a membrane by the technique of template synthesis to a large extent depends on the experimental conditions of the experiment. In the present work, the effect of potential applied to the electrodes on grain size and preferred orientation have been studied. For the synthesis of Zn nanowires, we used polycarbonate track etched membranes of cylindrical shape with 100 nm as the pore diameter. A variation in the intensity of peaks in the XRD pattern is observed, with a slight modification in the applied potential. The intensity of a peak in the XRD spectra is the direct reflection of orientation of a Miller plane in the crystal. The work indicates that preference of the orientation of crystal plane can be manipulated from experimental conditions as per the application requirements.